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meeting team seven.

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Looking ahead, she noticed a lack of animal presence, indicating some sort of danger. It took another three hours for them to reach the lake and she felt the danger as soon as she arrived, the brunette placed Haru down against a tree and bent down, touching the water. There was obviously something underneath, she felt chakra emitting from the bottom of the lake. It may not have been dangerous, but she wasn't taking any risks.

If she'd chosen to cross it by running, it would've taken a couple hours at best. If she'd mastered the blood clone jutsu, it would've been much easier, but she hadn't mastered it yet. It was a fact that blood clones were way better than shadow clones, they were more durable. A shadow clone with one stab or scratch, disappears or at best, a delayed reaction but blood clones could withstand anything, they could even heal themselves.

Looking towards the lake, she could make out the shadow of the boat. From afar, she could sense their chakra but she couldn't be sure that they were heading in the same direction. Only when she heard their footsteps, she stayed alert not knowing whether they were friend or foe.

"Oh, there's already people here, Kakashi-Sensei.." Sakura muttered, seeing two figures amongst the forming mist which made her inch closer to Sasuke.

Haru jolted up hearing there voices and stood beside the brunette, "female."

Kiyomi sighed, "were you awake this whole time?"

He held his hands up and smiled sheepishly, "not the whole time, just for the last twenty minutes or so."

"Unbelievable," she scoffed and glared at him. "Just don't reveal our identities."

He pouted at her doubt, "I'm not that dumb."

Finally, the two groups came face to face. They all just stared at each other, no one dared to move or speak a word and they weren't planning to, until..

Kakashi glanced over at the two and decided it'd better if they were acquainted since they'd be riding on the same boat. He was the only adult there, "I'm Kakashi Hatake, nice to meet you two."

"Ah, the famous copy ninja, what an honour. I'm Rei and this is teammate, Kiko," she turned to face him, bowing slightly. It wasn't the first time they'd met either. She was young, so, she wasn't surprised he didn't remember. Back then, she'd just arrived in Orochimaru's care.

An audible gasp left the pinkette's mouth when she spotted the scar on her face. "I'm Ha— Haruno Sakura."

Kiyomi rose an eyebrow, "can I help you?"

Sakura gulped, staring at her with pity, though, the prodigy recognised fear flash across her eyes. "Your scar.." She would've hated if she had a scar on her face.

"I don't need your pity," the brunette scoffed.

Haru folded his arms over his chest and glared at the female. "She doesn't need your pity! She looks beautiful even with scars!"

"Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be the Hokage, dattebayo!" He exclaimed happily, diffusing the tension.

A small smile appeared on her lips. "Pleasure," the chakra that emitted from him was warm, friendly. He certainly had a familiarity to him.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the ravenette said, sounding bored.

Kiyomi hummed, the only thing that piqued her interest was that he was an Uchiha, obviously Itachi's brother. They looked so alike. "Mhm, an Uchiha, interesting.."

He looked over at her inquisitively, the way she said his last name made him think that she knew something about him, his clan. Itachi.

Within moments, the boat had arrived, Haru and Kiyomi hopped on. The trio were hesitant, but they followed after their sensei who hopped on, probably to get to their destination. The silence was comfortable for her. But, she knew Haru didn't care much for silence, in fact, he hated it. She could feel the nervousness coming from the pinkette. It was like she was scared that the brunette was going to attack her.

Kakashi looked over at her and smiled, but he wasn't just looking at her, he was analysing her. He knew something or had a hunch and Kiyomi knew it.

Of all the things he could know, she didn't know where to begin. She thought about the bingo book. She'd been placed down for the bingo book when she was eleven, two years ago. It was a high accomplishment for someone her age but when it came to her ranking, she was still just a gennin. Only by participating in the chunnin exams would she be able to actually move up, it didn't matter how skilled she was. If she still hadn't taken the test, how could her ranking move up?

He couldn't help but stare at her. This girl. She felt so familiar, almost as he'd met her, prior to this. Needless to say, the two, they intrigued him..

Rei. She had a dangerous aura, not to mention the chakra around her. It was so powerful and strong, it practically emitted from her. He could've sworn he'd seen her in the bingo book. Naturally, the trio didn't notice, he wasn't surprised.

The more Kakashi analysed her, the more he thought of the extinct Ōzoku clan. Those eyes, they were of the Ōzoku clan. Another notable trait was a tattoo of their crest on a members body, but the tattoo could also be hidden. He turned his attention to the boy beside her. Kiko, he reminded him of a clan he'd come upon once. They were friendly people, but it was a small clan, the Kibō clan. All he needed to confirm this theory was to see the tattoo on the back of his neck.

Kakashi wanted to ask a few things, but it looked like Rei was enjoying the silence. Kiko on the other hand, not so much. "Rei," he called out.

She looked over to him, "yes?"

"If you don't mind, what's your last name?" He asked.

Kiyomi rose an eyebrow at his question, he was getting too curious for his own good. "I'm not at liberty to tell."

"That's right!" Haru added, coming to her defence.

"Why are you so defensive Rei?" Sasuke mused.

She discreetly kicked her teammate to prevent him from answering. Her eyes bore into the ravenette's. "We're not. I simply don't feel the need to share my last name with strangers." In all honesty, she just didn't want to add to the lie. She didn't want to make up another fake alias.

His black hues glanced over to the strangers sitting across from him. He was curious, why? He already had so many unanswered questions. Why are they all alone? Do they have a sensei? Do they have a team? What village are they from? She met his gaze for a moment, examining the young Uchiha, before coolly looking away.

Sasuke stared at her, almost in shock. If it were any other girl, they'd be squealing. Different is good. A satisfied hum escaped his lips, happy that she didn't fangirl like the pinkette. And though she looked away, his eyes remained on her.

Haru narrowed his eyes as he glared at the ravenette. He didn't like the way he looked at his dearest friend.

Sasuke had this sudden urge to battle her, she seemed strong. His eyes landed on her scar, and his curiosity only grew. He wanted to know her, her story. Why doesn't she want to say her last name? A frown appeared on his features as he continued to stare at her in fascination.

And whilst he was assessing her, Kiyomi was assessing them. Their eyes met again and this time, he noticed the hue. Mesmerising. They were hypnotic, he felt like she was piercing into his soul. He wanted to know more about her.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't think about the whole situation too much. He wasn't as discreet as the ravenette, either. He just stared at her, oblivious to the fact that she could see him staring out of the corner of her eye. But he couldn't help it, he found her so pretty. Everything he thought of was based off of her looks. He thought that the scar made her look cooler, and that her eyes were captivating.

But that didn't mean he wasn't curious, he wanted to know what her last name was. More importantly, felt as though he could trust her. He felt like they were already friends, even though she acted like the ravenette. And due to her chakra, she appeared to be someone familiar to him.

Her blue hues glanced over to the pinkette, which caused her to look away. HOW CAN I COMPETE WITH THAT?! She screamed internally. Despite the fact that she was scary, there was no denying that she was beautiful. She glared at the shinobi beside her, uncomfortable with the way he acted, like a guard dog. Like, her guard dog. WHAT IF SHE STEALS SASUKE-KUN AWAY FROM ME? A panicked expression appeared on her face.

Sakura glanced back at what she perceived to be a flawless brunette. It seemed like her eyes pierced into her very soul.

Haru caught her staring at the brunette, so he glared at the pinkette. And whilst he didn't like the pinkette, he found the blond cool. Naruto reminded him of himself, only, less innocent, he'd never say it out loud though. And, not to mention, he emitted a strong chakra, similar to the chakra Kiyomi was emitting. He found the ravenette to be an emo, seemingly cocky and above everyone else.

Though, he looked over to Kakashi and smiled, it was an honour to meet the legendary copy ninja. He found that running into team seven was extremely unfortunate and inconvenient. In fact, it was troublesome as they had to put up a facade. Even more so, his curse mark had began to act up. It'd began hurting, it'd began when he was sleeping but it gradually worsened with each passing minute.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "So, uh, Rei.."

She'd almost forgotten she wasn't using her actual name. She had to remember what her alias was. "Yes?"

"What brings you two to these parts? All alone, no less? What about your team?" He asked.

Kiyomi looked over to the uncharacteristically quiet Haru and sighed, "we're the strongest ones, so we're often sent out on our own. We're on a mission, and we have to meet our teammates at a certain location. We can't disclose that information unfortunately. They went ahead."

"They're about a day away." Haru added, forcing a smile onto his face. The pain was becoming unbearable. "Where are you guys off to?"

"Konoha, we've just finished a mission." He said, a visible smile could be seen through his mask. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but was interrupted by the brown haired ninja, jumping off the boat. In the process of jumping off, he'd rocked the small boat, almost tipping it over. Sakura screeched and held onto ravenette. Naruto shouted and gripped onto the boat. Kakashi and Sasuke remained unfazed, along with Kiyomi.

"Get off me." Sasuke grumbled.

A blush appeared on her cheeks as she slowly, hesitantly let go of him. "Sasuke-Kun, I'm sorry.."

You don't sound sorry. Kiyomi rubbed her temple, watching as her companion disappeared into the fog. "Damn, knucklehead." A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she stepped out of the boat and onto the water. "I'm sorry about him, he's a little shy sometimes. It was nice meeting you."

"You can walk on water too?" Naruto asked, leaning over the boat to look at her feet. "Wow! That's cool!"

She couldn't help but smile, seeing the innocent look on his face, "thanks, bye." She couldn't resist the urge to ruffle his hair before she ran after the male.

Sasuke watched her curiously. "She was a gennin, right?"

"Maybe, but she could also be a chunnin." Kakashi said, rubbing his chin. "Well, I hope they get to their destination safely."

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▬▬▬▬▬ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

young team seven needs more gifs.